So it turns out that I’m not just lacking in talent for finding Catholic publishers…there are very few of them out there. And few reviewers. And few “Catholic” writers who claim the title and write with a “Catholic” worldview.

Why the “quotes”? I’ve been doing the suggested reading to prep for the conference (see below), and this is one of the big questions: what does a “Catholic” writer look like and write about in 2017? It’s easy to look back (Flannery O’Connor, Evelyn Waugh, Tolkein, and friends are mentioned constantly) but that’s not particularly helpful when faced with the challenge of how to address our current challenges and a church, as writers, and as readers. So what’s a budding children’s author to do?

Thus the conference…maybe I’ll have some answers afterwards. But if you need some reading (including lists of the American Catholics authors you may or may not have missed in your public high school American lit class), check out the links below, courtesy of Kenneth Garcia, who is hosting the conference.